Piaractus Explained

Piaractus is a genus of large serrasalmid from South America. The two traditionally recognized species of Piaractus are very similar in appearance and were formerly included in the genus Colossoma, which currently only contains another similar species, the tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum).^{[1] [2]} A third Piaractus was described in 2019 as a new species, but it was formerly considered a subpopulation of P. brachypomus.^[3]

Species

There are currently three recognized species in this genus:^[3]

• Piaractus brachypomus (G. Cuvier, 1818) (Pirapatinga or red-bellied pacu)
• Piaractus mesopotamicus (Holmberg, 1887) (small-scaled pacu or Paraná River pacu)
• Piaractus orinoquensis Escobar et al., 2019

Notes and References

1. OPEFE (27 December 2011). genus Piaractus. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
2. Nico, L.; P. Fuller; and M. Neilson (22 October 2013). Piaractus brachypomus. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
3. Escobar, M.D., R.P. Ota, A. Machado-Allison, I.P. Farias and T. Hrbek (2019). A new species of Piaractus (Characiformes: Serrasalmidae) from the Orinoco Basin with a redescription of Piaractus brachypomus. Journal of Fish Biology: [1-x].